Guwahati: The Assam Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) announced on Friday that Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal is in charge of the Guwahati Development Department (GDD).
This comes a day after the Assam Cabinet underwent a massive change on Thursday.
The GDD and the Urban Development Department are currently housed under the Housing and Urban Affairs Department, it added.
Previously, the GDD was a separate state government department. Singhal is also in charge of the Irrigation Department, in addition to Housing and Urban Affairs.
A month after completing one year in office, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expanded and reshuffled his Cabinet on Thursday.
The new ministers inducted in the cabinet yesterday are BJP MLAs Nandita Garlosa and Jayanta Malla Baruah. They were given cabinet portfolios after the current ministers’ portfolios were re-allocated.
With the addition of two additional ministers, the cabinet now has a total of 16 members.
The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led cabinet has reshuffled for the first time. Sarma was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Assam on May 10 last year.
The newly inducted ministers Jayanta Malla Baruah has been allotted the portfolio of Minister of Public health Engineering, Skill, Employment & Entrepreneurship and Tourism department while Nandita Garlosa has been allotted the portfolio as the Minister of Power, Cooperation Department, Mines and Minerals and Indigenous & Tribal Faith and Culture Department.
According to the Constitution’s 91st amendment, a state’s total number of ministers, including the chief minister, should not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly.